Navigating the Changing Landscape of Formal and Informal Science Learning Opportunities

Description

This book presents research involving learning opportunities that are afforded to learners of science when the focus is on linking the formal and informal science education sectors. It uses the metaphor of a "landscape" as it emphasises how the authors see the possible movement within a landscape that is inclusive of formal, informal and free-choice opportunities. The book explores opportunities to change formal school science education via perspectives and achievements from the informal and free-choice science education sector within the wider lifelong, life-wide education landscape. Additionally it explores how science learning that occurs in a more inclusive landscape can demonstrate the potential power of these opportunities to address issues of relevance and engagement that currently plague the learning of science in school settings. Combining specific contexts, case studies and more general examples, the book examines the science learning landscapes by means of the lens of an ecosystem and the case of the Synergies longitudinal research project. It explores the relationships between school and museum, and relates the lessons learned through encounters with a narwhal. It discusses science communication, school-community partnerships, socioscientific issues, outreach education, digital platforms and the notion of a learning ecology. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Navigating the Changing Landscape of Formal and Informal Science Learning Opportunities (Deborah Corrigan, Cathy Buntting, Alister Jones, John Loughran)....Pages 1-7 Viewing Science Learning Through an Ecosystem Lens: A Story in Two Parts (John H. Falk, Lynn D. Dierking)....Pages 9-29 Pregnant Pauses: Science Museums, Schools and a Controversial Exhibition (Erminia Pedretti, Ana Maria Navas-Iannini)....Pages 31-49 Encounters with a Narwhal: Revitalising Science Education’s Capacity to Affect and Be Affected (Steve Alsop, Justin Dillon)....Pages 51-67 Communicating Science (Susan M. Stocklmayer)....Pages 69-86 Reinvigorating Primary School Science Through School-Community Partnerships (Kathy Smith, Angela Fitzgerald, Suzanne Deefholts, Sue Jackson, Nicole Sadler, Alan Smith et al.)....Pages 87-103 Natural Disasters as Unique Socioscientific Events: Curricular Responses to the New Zealand Earthquakes (Léonie Rennie, John Wallace, Grady Venville)....Pages 105-125 The Challenges and Opportunities for Embracing Complex Socio-scientific Issues As Important in Learning Science: The Murray-Darling River Basin As an Example (Peter J. Fensham, Jasper Montana)....Pages 127-150 Outreach Education: Enhancing the Possibilities for Every Student to Learn Science (Debra Panizzon, Greg Lancaster, Deborah Corrigan)....Pages 151-170 Using a Digital Platform to Mediate Intentional and Incidental Science Learning (Cathy Buntting, Alister Jones, Bronwen Cowie)....Pages 171-182 “Meet the Scientist”: How Pre-service Teachers Constructed Knowledge and Identities (Gillian Kidman, Karen Marangio)....Pages 183-192 Trial-and-Error, Googling and Talk: Engineering Students Taking Initiative Out of Class (Elaine Khoo, Bronwen Cowie)....Pages 193-206 Back Matter ....Pages 207-210